In modern consumer electronics, audio capability is playing an increasingly larger role as improvements in digital audio signal processing and audio content delivery continue to happen. There is a range of consumer electronics devices that are not dedicated or specialized audio playback devices, yet can benefit from improved audio performance. For instance, portable computing devices such as laptops, notebooks, and tablet computers are ubiquitous, as are portable communications devices such as smart phones. These devices, however, do not have sufficient space to house high fidelity speakers. This is also true to a lesser extent for desktop personal computers and low profile television sets with built-in speakers.
Generally, as a speaker decreases in size it is able to move less volume and thus sound quality (or at least loudness) may decrease. This may be especially noticeable for sounds in the lower end of the audio spectrum, e.g., beneath 1 kHz. Furthermore, the available volume within an electronic device shrinks, which in turn provides less air for a speaker to react against and thus limits the audible response. Similarly, the sound level and frequencies able to be produced by a speaker may also decrease as the size of the speaker decreases. Thus, as electronic devices continue to decrease in size, detrimental effects may be experienced for audio produced by the devices.